Covid-19 communication in emerging markets—Not viral enough?

Public health communication acts as a social vaccine in case of pandemics. Prior research has identified that such initiatives often fail to reach vulnerable sections of society. In India, while the first wave of infections mainly hit the urban areas, rural areas witnessed a surge in the second wave. Using the World Bank data, we attempt to understand the effectiveness of public awareness campaigns in rural areas. We use the Ecological Model for public health and find how the various factors relate to public health outcomes. The ecological factors are found to be related to awareness of Covid-19. We find inadequate awareness about the symptoms and preventive measures associated with Covid-19 among the rural population. We also find significant differences in communication and awareness along dimensions such as education and access to media. The role played by SHGs and hospitals in dealing with pandemics is also evident in this study. We conclude that the disparity in public health communication needs to be bridged to ensure equitable access to health information in society during public health crises.     

公共健康获益权的法理探源与权利建构

人内在的发展天性总希冀于更美好的发展与自由的获得,而现代国家的要义之一亦在于追求人民福祉与社会进步,一定社会经济条件下内外相生的发展动因将为人权的确立和发展提供物质基础,并通过进一步的法律权利构建,为其提供真实有效的保障。随着我国社会经济的发展,有必要将公民在公共健康领域的各种权利、特权、权力和豁免以霍菲尔德式的展开加以梳理,厘清现行主要公共卫生法律中公民法律利益的诸多形态,并对其中有关公民法律权利的规范和内容进行梳理、重构,以构建法律权利意义上的公共健康获益权,最终促进公民健康水平的提高和全面发展的实现。     

Promotion Tournament,Labor Market Tightening and Pension Generosity: A Comparative Public Policy Analysis of Pension System for Urban Workers in China (1997–2013)

Abstract

This article conducts a comparative public policy analysis of China’s generous urban worker basic pension system. It is commonly believed that Chinese local governments, which are motived by office-seeking incentives under decentralization, may foster economic growth at the expense of citizens’ social rights and thus “promotion tournament competition” comes into being. This article challenges this view by arguing that such competition can increase the generosity of social programs such as public pensions, especially in the condition of labor scarcity. This argument is supported by time-series cross-section analysis of 31 Chinese provincial units (1997–2013) using a novel indicator of the intensity of inter-locality competition. When the labor market tightens, workers can leave a locality to seek better compensation. Motivated by the promotion tournament competition to develop the local economy, which requires the issue of labor shortage to be addressed, local governments then provide generous local pension schemes to retain workers. Operating in a macroeconomic climate of labor scarcity, promotion tournament competition becomes an unlikely catalyst for welfare expansion in China.     

An empirical research on the leadership and effectiveness in public healthcare organizations： Lesson from transition economy

The aim of the paper is to examine leadership at the level of CEOs and effectiveness in healthcare setting. Previous studies suggest that there is relationship between leadership style, situation and circumstances. The relationship between leadership and performance is probably not straightforward and may be influenced by both environmental and contextual factors, yet no irrefutable support on this assumption can be found. In our paper we examine relationships between leadership, environment, organizational context and effectiveness in Polish healthcare organizations. Multifactor leadership questionnaire which has been used in a great number of researches relating to the public sector on leadership was employed in this research. Implications for practitioners and policy makers are given.     

Just sick of it? Health and political trust in Western Europe

This article explores two theoretical possibilities for why personal health may affect political trust: the psychological‐democratic contract theory, and the role of personal experience in opinion formation. It argues that citizens with health impairments are more likely to experience the direct effects of political decisions as they are more dependent on public health services. Negative subjective evaluations of public services can lower trust levels, especially if people's expectations are high. Using European Social Survey data, the association between health and trust in 19 Western European states is analysed. The results indicate that people in poor health exhibit lower levels of trust towards the political system than people in good health. The differences in trust between those in good and poor health are accentuated among citizens with left‐leaning ideological values. The results suggest that welfare issues may constitute a rare context in which personal, rather than collective, experiences affect opinion formation.     

突发公共卫生事件应急反应基础建设及其应急管理

我国正进入公共卫生危机高发期,加强公共卫生应急管理研究是当务之急。介绍了突发公共卫生事件应急反应系统建设研究中初步结果,包括突发事件主动监测、医疗物质储备、流行病学专家以及应急管理机制等。主动监测是早期发现和预警突发公共卫生事件的有效监测机制,包括医院病例监测、症状监测、药品和其他医用商品销售监测,中小学生缺课监测,动物死亡监测等。目前我国主动监测尚在研究中,储备是应急反应的必要基础,包括应急药品和物质储备、现场流行病学工作者和公共卫生实验室储备。应急反应系统组织结构和应急管理形式应在科学基础上,在法制保护下系统建立,并与国际接轨。此外,就公共卫生危机准备和处理提出了具体建议。     

新冠肺炎疫情网络舆情的特点及其治理启示

移动互联网时代,每逢有重大公共卫生事件发生,必然伴随有网络舆情,有效治理网络舆情是重大公共卫生事件处置的重要内容。新冠肺炎疫情防控是新中国成立以来一场前所未有的战役,网络舆情热度、烈度、扩散度、敏感度和破坏度也远超以往。在事件本身及利益相关者、政府、媒体、网民以及网络环境等因素的综合作用下,新冠肺炎疫情网络舆情呈现出井喷式发展、病毒式传播、舆论场对冲激烈、次生谣言层出不穷等特点。新冠肺炎疫情网络舆情启示我们,必须要将重大公共卫生事件网络舆情治理纳入国家治理层面考虑,采用多元主体协同治理和差异化引导策略。     

The Politics of Immigration and Public Health

The Conservative party's recent proposal to introduce compulsory medical examinations for immigrants should it win the upcoming election marks a departure in the politics of immigration and public health. For many years, the public health impact of immigration was kept out of party competition and successive governments pursued a voluntaristic approach to health checks. In this article, I outline the political history of immigration and public health, and consider the implications of attempts to raise the subject onto the public agenda. I argue that recent developments militate against a calm and balanced approach to the genuine public health concerns associated with immigration, which threatens not only to stigmatise immigrants and stoke anti-immigrant popular opinion, but also prevent the development of effective policies. In particular, the introduction of compulsory examinations may create perverse incentives for migrants to circumvent legal channels and thereby actually increase public health risks.